Carly's birthday, Glaciers and a mirror lake

The first day as a 29 year old was spent running around a rain forest pretending to be Gollum from lord of the rings, hiking to see a few glaciers and being spoilt rotten by my gorgeous husband. Not a bad day!!

We woke up in our little camper van and Edd surprised me with Lindor (fav chocolates), a card and a necklace to wear for the rest of the trip as I left all my jewellery in England for safe keeping. My big present was a night in a hotel and I was sooooooo happy and grateful and excited!

We had planned the day to see the glaciers but now time was cut short because I wanted to make the most of our hotel booking, check in was at 2pm!!!

We made the most of the included breakfast at the hostel whilst I spoke to grandma on the phone for my bday. We then set off a short drive to see the first of two glaciers, these are unique in that they are the only two glaciers in the world that penetrate rain forests.

We arrived at the car park and followed the signs up the valley, they were extremely strict about not leaving the marked path and not stopping on the path as there's a risk of falling rocks. Edd and I jumped out of our skin at the sound of rocks falling but it was the other side of the valley so we were safe. Makes you realise that it does happen though!

We walked for half an hour before turning the corner to see the glacier. They don't let you anywhere near it as its considered dangerous so you just look at it from 750 metres away but it's pretty impressive. You can get a helicopter onto it and get out and walk on top of it but the tours cost a fortune and we didn't want to spend the whole day on one glacier.

As we left the top the weather changed, I would argue dramatically but Edd seemed more prepared. It started to rain and I hadn't even considered taking my waterproof on the 'little wander'. Edd, the gentleman that he is, gave me his coat and we pegged it back down to the car.

We drove another 15 minutes on to a lake, the rumour is that it's fantastic for the glass lake effect and great for photos of mountain reflections. What we hadn't anticipated and were very pleasantly surprised by was the walk around the lake. We wandered through and enchanted wood with branches draped in green moss that looked like slime glistening with rain drops. My attempt at an eloquent description doesn't do it justice!! 

Apparently it's just like some of the Lord of the rings settings and Edd wanted to do some camera effect so I ended up pretending to be Gollum with my wedding ring!!! Edd seemed happy with the results, I was just happy not to have been caught being silly by anyone else on the walk.

The views were stunning but the conditions weren't good enough for a glass reflection on the water. Apparently on a good day you can see Mt Cook, Mt Tasman and the Fox glacier.

We made it back to the car park and whilst I had a wander around the little gift shop Edd started lunch. I got back to the sound of sizzling bacon! He had made me my fav lunch! Bacon, avocado bagels!! We sat in the van tucking in to a delicious bagel! Edd didn't let me do anything, not even the washing up! He then surprised me with chocolate cakes and birthday candles which was so sweet and I felt so special!

We were getting close to 2pm so I was in a hurry to get to the last glacier! Visiting them is weird, you definitely have to do it when you're in the area but you arrive at the car park and can see the glacier in the distance. You then walk up the valley for an hour and can still see it in the distance. 

It was very cool and it's interesting to see where it used to be and how much it has moved and what it has left behind but I was excited when we turned around to come back to the car because the next stop was Hotel!!!

The hotel was lovely, really lovely, great big bedroom with a great view and a bath tub and shower and all the soap extra bits, it even had a heater for when you get out the shower! 

We got the admin (clothes washing) done as quick as we could and we had a quick wander around the photographic gallery attached to the hotel, really good scenic photos, and then it was bath time!!! I was soooo happy, I had all my treats lined up, bubble bath, quality conditioner, razor, towel on the heater, drink in one hand and a lindor chocolate on the side.

I don't know where the time went but by the time I had faffed and felt human again it was time for dinner! I haven't felt this good since we left England, my eczema is almost cleared up, my face isn't swollen or itchy or flaking so I can wear make up and I have clean, straight hair!! We treated ourselves to dinner in the hotel and shared half and half of lamb and salmon, both dishes were incredibly tasty.

We are now back in our room with left over chocolate cake, drinks and an episode of House to watch in a bit!! What a perfect way to spend a birthday, I feel so special and spoilt so a big thank you to Edd!